The Canadian Finals Rodeo and Canadian Derby will be but slices of Edmonton Northlands’ equine history by the end of this year.

Northlands president Tim Reid announced Wednesday that the organization is officially out of the horse-racing business after the 2016 season, and that the 42nd CFR in November will be the last western whoop-up at Rexall Place.

Reid and Mayor Don Iveson said a deal is in the offing to hold the CFR at Rogers Place downtown, starting in 2017. Oilers Entertainment Group chairman Bob Nicholson also said a “multi-year deal” is in the final stages, and that he is working with Reid on an agreement that would keep the rodeo stock on Northlands’ property during the event.

The venues at which those sports have been hosted by Northlands are due for a massive, expensive, innovative rethink, all part of Northlands’ ambitious and creative —and did I mention expensive? — Vision 2020.

Proposed festival site would replace the horse-racing track at Edmonton’s Northlands exhibition grounds.Supplied

Northlands Park would become a $45-million outdoor concert and events venue capable of scaling up to 140,000 people.

Rexall Place is due for an $85-million refit to become Northlands Ice Coliseum, a six-sheet hockey tournament venue that could also accommodate curling ice.

Toss in a $35-million, 5,000-seat arena for concerts and sporting events inside the Expo Centre and you have the essence of Vision 2020.

You also have the end of horse racing at Northlands. Given the enormous expense of building an A-level track, and the horrid economic conditions that are likely to last a while in the province, the prospects of a relocation elsewhere in the Edmonton area are not good. But people in the industry are talking about solutions.

“Horse Racing Alberta is aware of interests in building a track in the Edmonton area and will explore, with our industry partners, options for racing,” chief executive officer Shirley McClellan posted on the HRA website.

In a telephone interview, she said they aren’t far down that road at all, because Northlands hadn’t offered a definitive statement before Wednesday. Now that it’s official, HRA will pursue alternatives. But the loss of the Northlands’ ‘A’ track will sting.

“It’s difficult, let’s make that very clear,” she said. “After Calgary quit racing in 2008, we were without a second ‘A’ track. You had to try to accommodate (thoroughbreds and standardbreds) that should be racing 100 days each at one track in a northern climate.”

When a new facility just north of Calgary at Balzac opened last year in April, Alberta again had two ‘A’ tracks and the pressure was off.

“For the horsemen, things were back to normal,” said McClellan. “Now this.”

She said HRA will work with Northlands as they transition out of racing, but she isn’t sure when or if there will be a standardbred season in the fall. For now, the plan seems to be to have a 55-date thoroughbred season ending a week after the Aug. 20 Canadian Derby. But that’s not even confirmed.

The industry supports 7,000 jobs but cannot stand on its own four legs. Most recently, it has taken an annual infusion of $21 million in slot revenue diverted from the provincial government coffers to prop up the sport. An extension of that agreement is being negotiated by HRA and the provincial government.

“There is no indication of that not continuing,” said McClellan.

Even so, Northlands is convinced the business model simply doesn’t work for them. What’s more, Reid said the outdoor venue built atop the 52-acre parcel of land on which Northlands Park sits can actually make money.

It can also host outdoor rodeos. Small bull-riding events could be held indoors at Hall D. So too lacrosse or hockey or soccer. Northlands Ice Coliseum could be the tournament capital of Canada, according to Reid.

The city asked Northlands for a plan and this radical departure from its legacy businesses is a good one. Pitting Rexall Place against Rogers Place for major events would have been futile. Vision 2020 offers them an identity apart from downtown, but in a complementary fashion. Northlands can remain relevant after the Oilers leave.

Northlands Ice Coliseum 118 ave at LRT station in Edmonton. For a story by Gary LamphierBBB Architects/Dialog

Is this the end of horse racing in Edmonton? Entirely possible. Is it the end for the sport of kings in Alberta? Not necessarily. Regardless, it cannot be Northlands’ prime focus. If racing is viable anywhere, it will be viable elsewhere. They need to move along.

As for rodeo, perhaps Northlands can work its way onto the Canadian Professional Rodeo Association’s outdoor circuit, in conjunction with K-Days at the end of July. It’s an option.

The whole thing is just a plan, said Reid. It needs approval from city council, buy-in from neighbouring communities and, most importantly, financing.

“If we can’t afford this, and they’re good ideas, I think we all as the city of Edmonton have an obligation to keep those ideas around, for a day that perhaps we can afford them,” said Reid.

He didn’t talk about the potential for residential, commercial and retail spinoffs, but hotel chains might consider the merits of serving hundreds of thousands of people who will visit the Northlands site for tournaments, conventions, concerts and sporting events in the renovated Hall D at Expo Centre.

Where there are people and hotels, there are restaurants and liquor stores, grocery stores and shopping outlets.

And where there was horse racing and indoor pro rodeo, there will be something else. It’s called evolution.

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